Did ever poet image aught fo fair, [brook!
Dreaming in whispering groves by the hoarfe
Or prophet, to whofe rapture heaven defcends!
Even now the fetting fun and fhifting clouds,
Seen, Greenwich, from thy lovely heights, declare
How just, how beauteous the refractive law.
The noifelefs tide of time, all bearing down
To valt eternity's unbounded fea,
Where the green inlands of the happy fhine,
He ftemm'd alone and to the fource (involv'd
Deep in primæval gloom) afcending, rais'd
His lights at equal diftances, to guide
Hiflorian, wilder'd on his darkfome way.
But who can number up his labours? who
His high difcov'ries fing? when but a few
Of the deep studying race can ftretch their minds
To what he knew: in fancy's lighter thought
How shall the Mufe then grafp the mighty theme?
What wonder thence that his devotion fwell'd
Refponfive to his knowledge? for could he,
Whole piercing mental eye diffusive saw
The finish'd univerity of things,
In all its order, magnitude and parts,
Fotbear inceffant to adore that Pow'r
Who fills, iuftains, and actuates the whole?

Say, ye who belt can tell, ye happy few,
Who faw him in the fofteft lights of life,
All unwithheld, indulging to his friends
The valt unborrow'd treafures of his mind,
Oh fpeak the wondrous man! how mild, how
How greatly humble, how divinely good; [calm,|
How firm eftabii b'd on eternal truth;
Fervent in doing well, with ev'ry nerve
Still preffing on, f rgetful of the past,
And panting for perfection: far above
Thofe little cares and vifionary joys
That fo perplex the fond impaffion'd heart
Of ever-cheated, ever-trusting man!
And you, ye hopelefs gloomy-minded tribe,
You, who, unconscious of thofe nobler flights
That reach impatient at immortal life,
Against the prime endearing privilege
Of being dare contend, fay, can a foul
Of fuch extenfive, deep, tremendous pow'rs,
Enlarging fill, be but a finer breath
Of fpirits dancing thro' their tubes awhile,
And then for ever loft in vacant air?

But bark! methinks I hear a warning voice,
Solemn as when fome awful change is come,
Sound thro' the world-" "Tis done! the mea-
"fure's full;
[ftones,

And I refign my charge."-Ye mould'ring
That build the tow'ring pyramid, the proud
Triumphal arch, the monument effac'd
By ruthlefs ruin, and whate'er fupports
The worthipp'd name of hoar antiquity,
Down to the duft! what graudeur can ye boaft,
While Newton lifts his column to the skies,
Beyond the waste of time? Let no weak drop
Befhed for him. The virgin in her bloom
Cut off, the joyous youth, and darling child,
Thefe are the tombs that claim the tender tear
And elegiac fong. But Newton calls
For other notes of gratulation high,

That now he wanders thro' thofe endless worlds
He here fo well defcried, and wond'ring talks,
And hymns their Author with his glad compeers.
O Britain's boat! whether with angels thou
Sitteft in dread difcourfe, or fellow-blest,
Who joy to fee the honour of their kind;
Or whether, mounted on cherubic wing,
Thy fwift career is with the whirling orbs,
Comparing things with things, in rapture loft,
And grateful adoration, for that light
So plenteous ray'd into thy mind below,
From Light himfelf; O look with pity down
On human kind, a frail erroneous race!
Exalt the fpirit of a downward world!
O'er thy dejected country chief prefide,
And be her Genius call'd! her studies raife,
Correct her manners, and infpire her youth:
For,tho deprav'd andfunk,fhebroughttheeforth,
And glories in thy name; the points thee out
To all her fons, and bids them eye thy ftar:
While in expectance of the fecond life,
When time shall be no more, the sacred duft
Sleeps with her kings, and dignifies the scene,

$56. Hymn on Solitude. THOMSON.
HAIL, mildly-pleafing Solitude,
Companion of the wife and good;
But from whofe holy piercing eye
The herd of fools and villains fly.

Oh! how I love with thee to walk,
And listen to thy whisper'd talk,
Which innocence and truth imparts,
And melts the inoft obdurate hearts!

A thousand shapes you wear with ease,
And ftili in ev'ry fhape you please.
Now wrapt in fome myfterious dream,
A lone philofopher you feem;
Now quick from hill to vale you fly,
And now yon fweep the vaulted iky.
A thepherd next you haunt the plain,
And warble forth your oaten ftrain;
A lover now, with all the grace
Of that fweet paffion in your face:
Then, calm'd to friendship, you affume
The gentle-looking Hartford's bloom
As, with her Mufidora, the
(Her Mufidora fond of thee)
Amid the long withdrawing vale
Awakes the rival'd nightingale.

Thine is the balmy breath of morn,
Juft as the dew-bent rofe is born;
And while meridian fervors beat
Thine is the woodland dumb retreat;
But chief, when evening fcenes decay,
And the faint landfcape fwims away,
Thine is the doubtful foft decline,
And that best hour of mufing thine.

Defeending angels blefs thy train,
The virtues of the fage and fwain;
Plain innocence, in white array'd,
Before thee lifts her fearless head:
Religion's beams around thee fhine,
And cheer thy glooms with light divine:
About

About thee sports sweet Liberty;
And rapt Urania fings to thee."

Oh, let me pierce thy fecret cell,
And in thy deep recefes dwell.
Perhaps from Norwood's oak-clad hill,
When meditation has her fill,
I just may cast my careless eyes
Where London's fpiry turrets rife;
Think of its crimes, its cares, its pain,
Then shield me in the woods again.

57. Hymn to Darkness. YALDEN.
DARKNESS, thou firft great parent of us all,
Thou art our great original;
Since from thy univerfal womb [fpring come.
Does all thou fhad'ft below, thy numerous off-
Thy wondrous birth is even to Time unknown,
Or, like eternity, thoud'ft none;
Whilft Light did its first being owe
Unto that awful thade it dares to rival now.
Say, in what diftant region doft thou dwell,
To Reafon inacceffible?

From form and duller matter free,
Thou foar it above the reach of man's philosophy.
Involv'd in thee, we first receive our breath,

Thou art our refuge too in death:
Great Monarch of the grave and womb!
Where'er our foulsfhallgo,totheeourbodiescome.
The filent globe is ftruck with awful fear,

When thy majestic fhades appear:
Thou doft compofe the air and sea, [thee.
And Earth a fabbath keeps, facred to rest and
In thy ferener fhades our ghosts delight,

And court the umbrage of the night;
In vaults and gloomy caves they stray,
But fly the morning beams, and ficken at the day.
Though folid bodies dare exclude the light,
Nor will the brightest ray admit;
No fubftance can thy force repel,
Thou reign't in depths below, doft in the centre
dwell.

The fparkling gems, and ore in mines below,

To thee their beauteous luftre owe;
Tho' form'd within the tomb of night,
Bright as their fire they shine, with native rays
of light.

When thou doft raise thy venerable head,

And art in genuine night array'd,
Thy negro beauties then delight;
Beauties, like polish'd jet, with their own dark-
nefs bright.

Thou doft thy fmiles impartially bestow,

And know'ft no difference here below:
All things appear the fame by thee,
Tho Light diftinétion makes,thougiv'ftequality.
Thou, Darkness, art the lover's kind retreat,

And doft the nuptial joys complete;
Thou doft infpire them with thy fhade,
Giv't vigour to the youth, and warm'it the
yielding maid.

Calm as the blefs'd above the anchorites dwell
Within their peaceful gloomy cell;
Their minds with heavenly joys are fill'd;
The pleasures Light denies, thy fhades for ever
yield.

In caves of night, the oracles of old

Did all their mysteries unfold:
Darkness did first Religion grace,
Gave terrorstotheGod,and reverence to the place.
When the Almighty did on Horeb stand,
Thy fhades inclos'd the hallow'd land,
In clouds of night he was array'd,
And venerable darkness his pavilion made.
When he appear'd arm'd in his pow'r and might,
He veil'd the beatific light;
When, terrible with majefty,
tempefts he gave laws, and clad himself in
[thee.
Ere the foundation of the earth was laid,
Or brighter firmament was made;

In

Ere matter, time, or place was known, Thou, Monarch Darkness, fway'dft these spa cious realms alone.

But now the moon (tho' gay with borrow'd
Invades thy fcanty lot of Night: [light)
By rebel fubjects thou'rt betray'd,
The anarchy of ftars depofe their monarch, Shade
Yet fading Light its empire must refign,

And Nature's pow'r submit to thine:
An univerfal ruin fhall erect thy throne,
AndFate confirm thykingdom evermorethyown.

Written in imitation of the Style and Manner of
§ 58. Education. WEST.
Spenfer's Fairy Queen.
Inferibed to Lady Langham, widow of Sir Ja
Langham, Bart.

Unum ftudium vere liberale eft, quod liberum facit.
"Hoc fapientiæ studium est, sublime, forte, mag-
"nanimum: cætera pufilla et puerilia, funt.-Plus
"fcire velle quam fit fatis, intemperantiæ genus eft.
"Quid, quod ifta liberalium artium confectatio mo-
" leftos, verbofos, intempeftivos, fibi placentes
"facit, et ideo non dicentes neceffaria, quia fuper-
"vacua didicerunt."
SEN. Ep. 88,

O GOODLY Difcipline! from Heaven ysprung,
To whom the Graces and the Nine belong,
Parent of Science, queen of Arts refin'd !
Oh! bid thofe Graces, in fair chorus join'd
With each bright virtue that adorns the mind,
Oh! bid the Muses, thine harmonious train,
Infpire, direct, and moralize the train [gain.
Who by thy aid erst humaniz'd mankind,
That doth essay to teach thy treasures how to

And thou, whofe pious and maternal care,
The fubftitute of heavenly Providence,
And train me up to manly itrength and fenfe,
With tend'reft love my orphan life did rear,
With mildeft awe and virtuous influence
Directing my unpractis'd wayward feet
To the fmooth walks of Truth and Innocence,
Where Happiness heartfelt, Contentment fweet,
Philofophy divine, aye hold their bleft retreat;
Ff 4

Τζου,

THE ARGUMENT.

The Knight, as to Pædia's + houfe
He his young fon conveys,
Is ftaid by Custom, with him fights,
And his vain pride difdays.

A GENTLE knight there was whofe noble deeds
O'er Fairyland by Fame were blazon'd round;
For warlike enterprize and fage areeds
Among the chief alike was he renown'd,
Whence with the marks of highest honours
By Gloriana, in domeftic peace, [crown'd
That port to which the wife are ever bound,
He anchor'd was, and chang'd the toffing feas
Of bustling bufy life for calm fequefter'd cafe.
There in domeftic virtue rich and great,
As erft in public, 'mid his wide domain
Long in primeval patriarchal state,
The lord, the judge, the father of the plain
He dwelt and with him in the golden chain
Of wedded faith ylink'd a matron fage
Aye dwelt, fweet partner of his joy and pain!
Sweet charmer of his youth, friend of his age,
Skill'd to improve his blits,his forrows to afluage!
From this fair union, not of fordid gain,
But merit fimilar and mutual love,
True fource of lineal virtue, fprung a train
Of youths and virgins, like the beauteous grove
Which round the temple of Olympic Jove
Begirt with youthful bloom the parent trees,
The facred olive, whence old Elis wove
Her verdant crowns of peaceful victory,
The guerdons of bold strength andiwiftactivity.
So round their noble parents goodly rofe
Thefe gen'rous fcions; they with watchful care,
Nurture, education.

Still as the fwelling paffions 'gan disclose
The beds of future virtues, did prepare
With prudent culture the young shoots to rear,
And aye in this endearing pious toil

They by a palmer¶fage inftructed were, [while
Who from deep thought and studious search ere-
Had learnt to mend the heart and till the human
foil.

For by celestial Wisdom whilom led

Thro' all the apartments of th' immortal mind,
He view'd the fecret ftores, and mark'd the fted
To judgment, wit, and memory, affign'd;
And now fenfation and reflection join'd
To fill with images her darkfome grotte,
Where variously disjointed or combin'd,
As reafon, fancy, or opinion, wrought, [thought.
Theirvarious masks theyplay'd,andfedherpenfive
Als++ thro' the fields of Science had he stray'd
With eager fearch, and fent his piercing eye
Thro' each learn'd fchool, each philofophic fhade,
Where Truth and Virtue erft were deem'd to lie,
If haply the fair vagrants he mote Ifpy,
Or hear the mufic of their charming lore;
But all unable there to fatisfy

His curious foul, he turn'd him to explore The facred writ of Faith, to learn, believe, adore. Thence foe profefs'd of Falfehood and Deceit, Thofe fly artificers of Tyranny, Aye holding up before uncertain feet His faithful light to knowledge, Liberty, Mankind he led to civil policy, And mild Religion's charitable law, That fram'd by Mercy and Benignity The perfecuting fword forbids to draw, And free-created fouls with penal terrours awe. Ne with the glorious gifts elate and vain Lock'd he his wifdom up in churlish pride, But ftooping from his height would even deig The feeble steps of infancy to guide: Eternal glory him therefore betide; Let ev'ry gen'rous youth his praife proclaim, Who wand'ring thro' theworld's rudeforestwide, By him hath been ytaught his course to frame ToVirtue'sfweetabodesandheavenafpiring Fame! For this the Fairy knight with anxious thought And fond paternal care his counfel pray'd, And him of gentlcft courtesy befought His guidance to vouchfafe and friendly aid, The while his tender offspring he convey'd Thro' devious paths to that fecure retreat Where fage Pædia with each tuneful maid On a wide mount had fix'd her rural feat, Mid flow'rygardens plac'd,untrod by vulgarfeet. And now forth-pacing with his blooming heir, And that fame virtuous palmer them to guide, Pædia is a Greek word, fignifying education. ↑ Areeds, counfels. § Parent-ver, the faired olive.] This tree grew in the Altis, or facred grove of Olympic Jupiter, at Olympia, having, as the Fleans pretended, been originally planted there by Hercules. It was esteemed facred; and from that were taken the Olympic crowns.

Palmer, pilgrim. The perfon here fignified is Mr. Locke, characterized by his works.

Gue: dons, rewards.

** Sted, place, Aation.

tt Ale, ajo, further.

# Miete, might.

Arm'd

Arm'd all to point, and on a courfer fair
Ymounted high, in military pride,

His little train before he flow did ride.
Him eke behind a gentle 'fquire enfues,
With his young lord aye marching fide by fide,
His counsellor and guard in goodly thews,
Who well had been brought up and nurs'd by
ev'ry Muse.

Thus as their pleafing journey they purfu'd,
With cheerful argument beguiling pain,
Ere long defcending from an hill they view'd
Beneath their eyes outstretch'd a fpacious plain,
'That fruitful fhew'd and apt for ev'ry grain,
For paftures, vines, and flow'rs, while Nature fair
Sweet fmiling all around with count`nance fain†
Seem'd to demand the tiller's art and care
Her wildness to correct, her lavish wafte repair.
Right good I ween and bounteous was the foil,
Aye wont in happy feafon to repay
With tenfold ufury the peafant's toil,
But now it was ruin all and wild decay;
Untill'd the garden and the failow lay, [grown,
The theep-fhorne down with barren brakest o'er-
The whiles the merry peasants fport and play
All as the public evil were unknown,

Or ev'ry public care from ev'ry breast was flown.
Astonish'd at a scene at once fo fair
And fo deform'd, with wonder and delight
At man's neglect and Nature's bounty rare,
In ftudious thought awhile the Fairy knight
Bent on that goodly lond § his eager fight,
Then forward ruth'd impatient to defcry
What towns and caftles therein were empight||;
Fortowns him feem'd and caftles he did fpy [eye.
As to th' horizon round he stretch'd his roaming
Nor long way had they travell'd ere they came
To a wide ftream that with tumultuous roar
Amongt rude rocks its winding courfe did frame,
Black & was the wave and fordid, cover'd o'er
With angry foam, and ftain'd with infants' gore:
Thereto, along th' unlovely margin stood
A birchen grove that waving from the fhore
Aye caft upon the tide its falling bud,
And with its bitter juice empoifon'd all the flood.
Right in the centre of the vale empight
Not distant far a forked mountain role,
In outward form prefenting to the fight
That fam'd Parnailian hill on whofe fair brows
The Nine Aonian Sifters wont repofe,
Lit ning to fweet Caftalia's founding stream,
Which thro'the plainsof Cirrha murm ring flows;
Et this to that compar`d mote justly feem
Ne fitting haunt for gods,ne worthy man's esteem.
For this, nor founded deep nor fpredden wide,
Nor high uprais'd above the level plain,
Ey toiling art thro' tedious years applied,
From various parts compil'd with studious pain,

Thews, manners.
Empight, placed.

Was erft upthrown, if fo it mote attain,
Like that poetic mountain, to be hight
The noble feat of Learning's goodly train;
Thereto, the more to captivate the fight
It like a garden fair most curiously was dight
In figur'd plots with leafy walls enclos'd,
By measure and by rule it was outlay'd,
With fymmetry fo regular difpos'd
That plot to plot ftill anfwer'd fhade to fhade;
Each correfpondent twain alike array'd
With like embellishments of plants and flow'rs,
Of ftatues, vafes, fpouting founts, that play'd
Thro' fhells of Tritons their afcending thow'rs,
And labyrinths involv'd and trelice-woven
bow'rs.

There likewife mote be seen on ev'ry side
The yew obedient to the planter's will,
And fhapely box of all their branching pride
Ungently fhorne, and with prepoft rous skill
To various beafts and birds of fundry quill
Transform'd,and human fhapesof monftrousfize,
Huge as that giant race who hill on hill[prize f
High-heaping, fought with impious vain em-
Despite of thund'ring Jove to fcale the steepykies.
Als other wonders of the sportive shears
Fair Nature mifadorning there were found
Globes, fpiral columns, pyramids, and piers,
With fprouting urns and budding statues
And horizontal dials on the ground [crown'd,
In living box by cunning artists trac'd,
And gallies trim on no long voyage bound,
But by their roots there ever anchor'd faft, [blaft.
All If were their bellying fails outspread to ev'ry
O'er all appear'd the mountain's forked brows
With terraffes on terraffes upthrown,
And all along arrang`d in order'd rows
And viftos broad the velvet flopes adown
The ever verdant trees of Daphine fhone;
But aliens to the clime, and brought of old
They thrunk and languifh'd in a foreign mould,
From Latian plains and Grecian Helicon,
By changeful fuminers ftarv'd, and pinch'd by
winter's cold.

Amid this verdant grove with folemn state,
On golden thrones of antic form reclin'd,
In mimic majefty Nine Virgins fat,
In features various as unlike in mind:

Als boasted they themselves of heavenly kind,
And to the fweet Parnaflian Nymphs allied;
Thence round their brows the Delphic bay they
And matching with high names their apifh pride,
twin'd,
O'er ev'ry learned fchool aye claim'd they to
prefide.

In antic garbs (for modern they difdain'd)
By Greek and Koman artifts whilom §§ made,
Of various woofs and variously diftain'd
With tints of ev'ry hue were they array`d;
Brakes, briers.

† Fain, earnest, eager.

++ Emprize, enterprise, attempt, 99 Whilum, formerly.

§ Lond, land. High, called, named. Dight, dreft. 11 All, fed irequently by the old English poets for although,

And